He returned in 1835 to begin farming on land granted to him by the New South Wales government near Mittagong.

In 1838 he herded cattle overland from Sydney to Adelaide, on the way proving that the Hume and the Murray were the same river.

He then settled in South Australia and was appointed Surveyor-General until the London-appointed Surveyor-General

Edward Frome unexpectedly arrived, then Registrar-General.

He proposed a major expedition into the interior of Australia as a way of restoring his reputation in the colony and London.

Sturt wanted to settle the debate as to whether there was an inland sea.

In August 1844 Sturt and a party of 15 men, 200 sheep, six drays and a boat set out to explore north-western New South Wales and to advance into central Australia.

Travelling along the Murray and Darling rivers before venturing to the Great Dividing Range they passed the site of Broken Hill, but were then stranded for months by the extreme summer conditions near the present site of Milparinka.

When the rains eventually came Sturt pressed on into central Australia until they discovered the Simpson Desert, at which point they were unable to go further and turned back to Adelaide.

Sturt later undertook a second expedition to reach the centre of Australia, but his health broke down in the extreme conditions and he was forced to abandon the attempt.

In 1851 Sturt settled to England, where he died in 1869.

He is commemorated by the municipality of Charles Sturt in Adelaide, Charles Sturt University in regional New South Wales, and the Sturt Highway ( see also Sturt Highway ) from Mildura to Adelaide.